STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom already had his team back practicing early Monday morning to work out some kinks on special teams.

The Bulldogs had five mistakes in the kicking game that Croom saw in Saturday's 22-14 loss at Louisiana Tech and he is determined to correct them as soon as possible.

"We practiced because there were things we needed to clear up on," Croom said. "We worked primarily on our kicking game. We were in full speed punt coverage, punt rush, kickoff returning, kickoff coverage, all of it. It was not satisfactory the other night."

He said the way his team played Saturday did not merit a win despite plenty of chances to take control and put the game away.

"We didn't deserve to win the ballgame," Croom said. "We had all kind of opportunities but things that happened in the game, the penalties, the three (offensive) turnovers, the five critical errors in the kicking game is going to get you beat by anybody. We've worked on that and we will continue to work on that this afternoon and we're going to get it right."

MSU not only lost the game Saturday but also lost one of its key components. Senior linebacker Jamar Chaney will be out for the rest of the season after suffering a fractured leg in the second half.

"That's definitely a blow to us," Croom said. "That guy was a good player for us. He played well the other night. That leadership is something that is going to be missed. These things happen and we have to move on."

Chaney had surgery on the leg that will likely end his career in Starkville.